A New Old Friend
by DrinkCocoa
Summary: Instead of Ron Weasley, Harry is joined by Dumbledore on his first ride to Hogwarts. The friendship between two strange first-years begins.


As the doors to his compartment slid open, Harry took a deep breath and prepared himself to meet his very first school friend. The introduction ready in his mind, Harry glanced at the person who just entered, and all of his preparations immediately were forgotten.

"Hello there," a warm voice said. "Can I sit with you?"

Whoever Harry had expected, it certainly wasn't an old man with a long, white beard, who was now waiting patiently for his answer.

"Umm … yes, of course," said Harry, and the ancient man smiled, entering the compartment and putting his trunk on the shelf.

He sat in front of Harry and smoothed his pink robe. There were strange creatures, similar to birds but with hands instead of wings, seemingly walking on the robe, sometimes arguing with each other in an unknown language. It took a lot of courage for Harry not to run away in hopes of finding a more … ordinary companion.

Harry shook his head with a grimace. After all, that's why he was here. Because he was anything but ordinary.

"I'm Harry, nice to meet you," he said and held out his hand.

The man smiled and shook his hand with a much more wrinkled one of his own. "I'm Albus, nice to meet you too, Harry."

The raven-haired boy nodded and gave a small relieved sigh. The peculiar man seemed friendly enough.

"Are you a first-year too?" asked Albus and interrupted Harry's train of thought.

He didn't expect the old man to be a first-year … but maybe this was considered normal in the Wizarding World? Harry didn't want to say anything offensive and betray his ignorance.

"Yes, I am," he replied after a while.

Albus nodded thoughtfully. "And what House are you hoping for, Harry?"

"One with a pool would be nice," said Harry without thinking, making the other first-year chuckle.

"I think I've got some explaining to do, Harry."

* * *

As the doors slid open once more, their livid discussion of favourite sweets was interrupted. A blond boy was staring at them, not knowing quite what to do.

"Hello, can we help you with anything?" asked Harry with a smile.

The boy moved his lips but nothing came out. His face was red.

Harry thought he must've been a Muggleborn since he kept staring at Albus in shock. Harry didn't want his friend to be offended and tried to save the situation. "My name's Harry, and this is Albus, we're both first-years. Are you a first-year too?" he asked.

Now the blond boy was staring at him. It took him a full minute before the rude boy was finally ready to say what was on his mind all along. "What the—" before he could finish his incredibly offensive question, there was a loud _pop _in the compartment and a strange creature slapped the boy.

"NO SWEARING ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS!" the creature yelled and glared at the offender, who now looked equally shocked and disgusted.

Harry started missing his ordinary school before he even got to the new one.

* * *

Thankfully, both Harry and his friend were sorted into Gryffindor, and now were sitting together, waiting for the feast to start. The other children must've found Albus a bit intimidating, cause they kept shooting him curious glances. Harry tried his best to glare at everyone who stared too much. He didn't want his friend to be bullied for his age.

After the Sorting had ended, they all waited for the Headmaster to start the feast. However, to Harry's curiosity, the Headmaster chair was still empty.

"Do you know who the Headmaster is?" he asked, leaning closer to Albus.

"Well, of course I know him. He's me."

Harry stared at his friend who smiled mischievously.

Albus cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, let's eat," he said in a loud voice, and food finally appeared on the tables. He sat back down and served himself some garlic bread.

"What is it?" he asked Harry after a minute, because the boy was still gaping at him.

"_You're_ the Headmaster?" asked Harry. "What are you doing here then?"

Albus shrugged and kept on munching on his strawberry pie. "Well, recently I've heard some complaints about our teaching methods. So, naturally, I've decided to check them myself."

"By becoming a student?"

"Yes," replied Albus. "So far I've discovered that the pie is quite delicious. Do you want some?"

Harry shook his head not really caring about food at the moment.

"Oh well, more for me then."

* * *

When the feast was nearing its end, and everyone apart from the Headmaster and a ginger-haired boy sitting next to Harry were already done with eating, Albus suddenly chuckled.

"What is it?" asked Harry, who was starting to get bored waiting on them to stop eating.

"I have an idea," the Headmaster replied. "I know how to check our education standards."

Harry found himself eyeing his old friend curiously.

Albus swallowed the last bit of his ridiculously sugary meal and stood up. He clapped his hands, cleared his throat, and everyone was staring at him now.

"I want to check how good our education system truly is," he started. "So I came up with an idea. Surely, a mere first-year like me could never defeat older students with years of education already completed if our education is truly worth something. So let us duel!"

Silence fell across the Great Hall, disturbed only by the sound of Minerva McGonagall face-palming at the Head Table.

"I'll duel you, you old—" a seventh-year Slytherin started, but was interrupted by a smack to his face.

"NO SWEARING ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS!" yelled the same creature Harry had seen already on the train, who then disappeared with a loud _pop_.

The Headmaster eyed the Slytherin with a smile, but another voice interrupted them again, this time from the Head Table.

"How about this?" a man with a turban on his head said. "Surely, if a mere first-year can defeat a professor, then the education is worthless, right? So let us duel and check this."

The Headmaster nodded jovially. "A great idea, Quirrell. Let us duel, then."

The pair stood opposite each other at the centre of the Great Hall. Both students and professors eyed them with held breaths, waiting for the duel to start. Harry gave his friend a thumbs up, hoping to encourage the Headmaster.

Albus winked at him and the duelling pair drew their wands. Minerva McGonagall counted them down, even her stoic face betraying hints of excitement.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Begin!" she yelled, and Quirrell immediately waved his wand.

"_Avada Keda_—" his scream was interrupted by a loud smack.

"NO DUELLING ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS!"

* * *

_**A/N:**_ This was written for the first round of the Houses Competition, year 5.

**Team:** Lions

**Class Subject:** DADA

**Story Category:** Standard

**Prompt:** First Day at a Wizarding School

**Word Count:** 1119


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